Live Trip Report

[disneyholic family]

so sorry about the crowds at the studios....
how annoying!!!

are they still showing fantasmic only a few times a week?
i would guess that would push up the crowds on a fantasmic day....

 

[Cyrano]

Studios is such a hard park to plan with Fantasmic only being shown on select days.
Crowds sound awful

 

[wayneg]

Shuttle now 8th May at the earliest http://www.nasa.gov/missions/highlights/schedule.html

 

[juliebro]

Looks like we'll miss the shuttle launch, as we leave on Saturday 7th. At least we were lucky enough to have seen one last year.

Had a fantastic day today! Lovely breakfast again at Cracker Barrel. (Am going to definitely have to increase the gym visits when I get back home!)

We then went to Buena Vists Motorsports at Paradise Cove on Lake Bryan and rented a jetski. It was great fun!

This afternoon we decided to go and have a look at Port Canaveral and see the cruise ships leaving. DH remembered reading one of Wayne's posts about spending a sunday afternoon there, and seeing a band etc etc.

We drove around for a little while before finding 'the Cove' and a place called Milliken's Reef. We spent a really enjoyable couple of hours there, listening to a live rock band. They were called 'Jender' and were very good. Fellow DIS cocktail fans will be glad to hear that I did the necessary research on the margarita quality. They were definitely up to scratch. Just to be sure, I sampled three of them.

Ate tonight at Sweet Tomatoes at LBV.

Going to Blizzard Beach tomorrow.

Will try to upload some photos shortly.

 

[juliebro]

The gator at Celebration

More Celebration wildlife

Skywriter's message

The jetski

 

[Linda67]

Great photos!
Another lovely day

 

[taylor91]

great photos hope you have a great day at BB

 

[wayneg]

Glad you enjoyed a few drinks at the port, we go about another 200 yards further down to Grills http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?f=q&s...+Canaveral,+Florida+32920,+United+States&z=16
Maybe test the margaritas there next trip http://www.grillsseafood.com/

 

[jen_uk]

Great photos

 

[disneyholic family]

great photos!!!
that is definitely a gator!! not something i'd want to encounter...
we saw one once at the beach club resort....outside the building....on the side closest to epcot...it was on the grass there....quite a shock to see it!!

 

[juliebro]

Evening all!

Another good day (but then again there aren't really any bad days over here apart from the day you have to go home!).

Breakfast at Bob Evans this morning - eggs, sausage, hash browns, pancakes and coffee. Then off to Blizzard Beach. We were there before they opened at 10 am and got a nice shady spot with sunbeds. The park was the quietest we have ever seen it - so DH managed to get on Summit Plummet as many times as he wanted too without too much waiting around. I gave it a miss.

We did the lazy river together and the family raft ride - but I'm not a big fan of water slides. I enjoyed chilling out and reading my book.

One thing I have forgotten to mention on all my daily updates though has been the massive number of 'lovebugs'! They are everywhere! The fronts of some cars are absolutely covered in dead bugs. Not nice.

Another thing I keep forgetting to mention is a Sirius Radio station we have been listening to in the evenings on our drives back to the townhouse. It's called Outlaw Country - not one to listen to with children in the car though! Some of the song lyrics are highly amusing! (Not always intentionally) Currently on station number 63, it's about to move to number 60, I think. Worth a listen.

This evening we went back to our favourite place to eat - Manny's. That place is always busy - but they know how to please their customers. Good, simple well-cooked food, at great prices, served well. With great margaritas!

The plan is to go to Busch Gardens tomorrow.

 

[taylor91]

Sounds like you have had another lovely day I love the water parks, especially the lazy river

 

[irisheyes123]

Sounds Like you are having a great time ..

 

[juliebro]

Another fun day today. And I think I may have forgotten to mention how hot it is. Not sure what it peaked at today - but it was 95 degrees at 7:15 pm!

We had breakfast at Cracker Barrel today. Very good - as usual. I had the 'Grain and Granola Pancake Breakfast' - very filling. Impossible to eat it all.

As planned we went to Busch Gardens. We arrived a little before the park opened at 10 and got a parking space close to the tramstop.

The park was definitely much quieter than when we there last year. We had been advised to avoid Thurdays and Fridays at the park if we didn't want to be there with lots of school groups. The advice was good - we saw only one school group and pretty much walked straight onto every ride.

Sadly the new Cheetah Hunt ride was not yet open - but it's almost ready and looks like it'll be a good ride. We'll have to wait to try it next year.

Did all the 'wet' rides this afternoon - the raft ride, log flume and tidal wave. It was nice to cool off.

We weren't sure where to eat tonight - and had a look at the new restaurants open/opening at the Eastern end of the 192 - near Publix. There's the Millers Orlando Alehouse we went to last week, Olive Garden is open, as is Applebees. Bahama Breeze is 'hiring now'. So is 'Sweet Tomatoes'
which is due to open at the end of May.

We opted for Applebees, but were a little disappointed. It was very similar in feel to the Orlando Alehouse. The menu had plenty of choice but it was all the usual 'chain' fare - most of it cooked from frozen, rather than from scratch.

DH had a 'Cowboy Burger' and I had 'Cajun Shrimp Pasta'. They were ok, not great. Don't think we'll go back again. I tried the margaritas (2 4 1) - but they tasted of artificial flavours. I know I keep harping on about Manny's but the bill tonight was only 2 dollars less than the one at Manny's last night and we both had steaks there and the same drinks. Enjoyed Manny's much more.

It's DH's birthday tomorrow. We plan to go to Cocoa Beach for the day.

Bye for now!

 

[dixonsontour]

Another great day thanks for the update

 

[disneyholic family]

happy birthday!!!!!!

 

[juliebro]

Today we started off at the Richard Petty Test Track at MK again. We toured the facility and were given a briefing on the history of the track etc. We also were allowed to view the workshop and talk to the guy who runs it. Unfortunately, we had arrived a few minutes late and had missed the tour round the track in a van - but that was no real hardship as we'd done the ridealong last week.

Hot tip - We were told that a lot of the NASCAR race teams use the track for testing during November, December and January. They don't mind people going along to watch - free. If anyone's there at that time of year and is interested, they should call the track when they arrive in the area and ask if any testing is going on.

After a late Denny's breakfast, we went over to Cocoa Beach and parked by the pier. The beach was fairly quiet and there was quite a breeze. We rented a couple of sunbeds and an umbrella and relaxed for the afternoon, before having a quick drink at the Mai Tiki Bar at the end of the pier. DH was happy to drive (and not drink) so again, in the interests of research, I gave the margaritas a try. It was happy hour too! In my opinion, I am happy to report that they were the best I have tasted on this trip.

As we were celebrating DH's birthday, we went to Manny's again for steaks. It's definitely our favourite place. Manny himself was there tonight - and it was as busy as ever.

Not many days left now before we go home. We fly back on Saturday afternoon. We're going to Animal Kingdom tomorrow. It's a while since we were last there - so am looking forward to it.

Finally - apologies if I confused anyone with last night's report. I meant the Western end of the 192, not the Eastern! D'oh!!!!!

 

[juliebro]

Just a few pictures I've uploaded tonight.

One of the cruise ships we saw leaving Port Canaveral on Sunday

Watching the band at Milliken's Reef

I told the waiter at Manny's that it was DH's birthday today. He brought him this dessert!

 

[disneyholic family]

OMG!!!!
i WANT that dessert!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
looks absolutely scrumptious!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[taylor91]

That dessert looks amazing!! And look at all the blue sky